Hi All,

Well, I have attended the meeting held by the Mayor. It was a virtual who’s who of the community developers, as well as representation by the City Council, Ann Kress and MCC and various other politicians. There was a great deal of talk about the Canal, the moving of the bus traffic from Main Street to any far away place, etc. It kept coming back to the “key corner” of Main and Clinton. It was interesting how everyone seemed to be afraid to say anything controversial. I was asked to keep a low profile, and give others a chance to speak. I did that, but, nobody said anything of any value. It seemed as if everyone was content to start from scratch. I am NOT.

Let’s talk turkey here. All throughout the RenSquare fiasco, MCC was steadfast. They loved the Main Street location. There was very little push back from anyone regarding the MCC facility. Virtually all of the controversy was centered around the never funded PAC, and the bus terminal that changed every couple of years. There was never any talk about any qualms from MCC, other than the lack of a construction staging area that might have a negative impact on their build out. That was an easy one to fix. However, now, out of the blue, MCC is saying the Main Street Site is unsuitable because of a lack of space for possible expansion. That was a new one. At the meeting yesterday, Ann Kress, the new President of MCC, said they would seek a location that would be a good fit for the types of goods and services that the student, faculty, and administrators would need and want. Wow! This is great news!

I sent Ann a formal request to present my newest plan for Main and Clinton. A copy of that letter and the renderings for my new design are below. As you can see, I have removed any objection that they might have had. They can have all the room they need for future expansion, as well as a staging area during their construction. I am perplexed. If the Main and Clinton corner is so important, why isn’t the City and the public clamoring for MCC to go into their original site?? Their injection of 4500 people in the center of that block instantly creates the necessary foot traffic to support a retail and housing complex on the corner. It would also be way to recover SOMETHING of the 24 million dollars already spent on that site.

Ann has not replied to our request yet. She has said publicly that they won’t be ready to look at ideas for two months. This is what has me perplexed. If anyone out there has any idea why the Main Street location isn’t the best possible site, please let me know. Main and Clinton can be fixed quickly with MCC coming into their original site. The block would then be a nucleus for other housing and retail to grow outwardly. I urge everyone to help make this a reality. We can accomplish so much by simply getting MCC to come home to Main Street. I will keep everyone up to date.

Thx, Neil

Attachments:
August 14th Letter to MCC
Development Overview Presentation
Rendering 1 – Ground Floor
Rendering 2 – Typical Apt Floor

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